In conventional systems, users typically have access to a plethora of media content. In fact, users have access to so much media content users often need help in navigating available media content and finding media assets for consumption. To alleviate such problems, conventional systems often allow users to search the available media content based on various criteria such as the cast and crew, genre, broadcast time, etc. While such a feature is helpful, it is also limited to the specificity with which a user may search. For example, while a user may search by the name of the lead actor to receive media asset listings featuring that actor, the user typically cannot search by an actor with a minor role. In another example, while a user may search a genre (e.g., “horror”), the user typically cannot search by a sub-genre (e.g., “slasher”).
The limitation in terms by which a user may search is due to the lack of tags (e.g., descriptive metadata) that accompany media assets. For example, while tags for broad search categories may be automatically determined for individual media assets from published descriptions, more detailed tagging for use in allowing more detailed searches is not easily determinable. In fact, in many cases, detailed tagging (e.g., indicating a sub-genre or minor actor) must be done manually by a human operator, which is both time consuming and expensive.